This invention relates to connector plates and, more particularly, to a device for accurately locating and positioning a connector plate with respect to adjacent members that are to be connected.
In many industries involving the construction of wood products, it is necessary to join together two or more adjacent wood members. Such applications arise in constructing furniture, trusses, pallets and the like. For example, to facilitate rapid construction of residential and commercial properties, roof trusses are often assembled in advance and shipped to the construction site where they are incorporated into the building, such trusses commonly being referred to as preengineered trusses. Assembly of these trusses requires joining together in an abutting relationship various wood members such as bottom chords, top chords, and web members such as verticals and diagonals, these members sometimes being known as, respectively, joists, rafters, struts and vertical posts. The adjacent wood members are secured together through the use of connector plates, nailer plates, gang-nail plates, truss plates or the like. These plates generally comprise a flat base having a plurality of teeth stamped therefrom, each tooth extending substantially perpendicularly relative to the base and functioning as a nail. In a typical assembly procedure, a connector plate is placed on a jig table, the wood members to be joined are positioned on the table and overlying the connector plate, a second connector plate is placed above the wood members and aligned over the first connector plate, and pressure is applied to the connector plates to securely engage them with the wood members. The connector plate teeth penetrate the wood members to securely mount the plate to the wood members thereby holding the wood members in an assembled relationship.
However, the connector plates, and especially the first connector plate placed directly on the jig table, have a tendency to slip or move from their desired location before they can be secured to the wood members. Thus, the connector plates may not be centered relative to the wood members to be joined, as is desired for an effective connection. The resulting truss may have an inherent weakness in that the connector plate is off-center relative to the members to be joined. Thus, it would be desirable to have an apparatus for accurately locating and retaining a connector plate relative to the wood members to be joined before the connector plate is secured to the wood members.